Was working last night at 8pm - first time I've been able to buy a ticket on a Wednesday night for about 3 weeks

It was out of service again yesterday afternoon at 15:30. And a word of warning. If you have a pre-paid ticket which you were hoping to pick up at Brookmans Park but couldn't, and if your destination is Moorgate, you can't collect it the other end because they don't have a ticket machine connected to the system. Instead, you are let through the barrier by the attendant, directed to Liverpool Street "which has a national rail ticket office" in order to collect your ticket - which isn't very helpful if you have meetings in the other direction and are on a tight schedule.

It was out of service again yesterday afternoon at 15:30. And a word of warning. If you have a pre-paid ticket which you were hoping to pick up at Brookmans Park but couldn't, and if your destination is Moorgate, you can't collect it the other end because they don't have a ticket machine connected to the system. Instead, you are let through the barrier by the attendant, directed to Liverpool Street "which has a national rail ticket office" in order to collect your ticket - which isn't very helpful if you have meetings in the other direction and are on a tight schedule.

I think I mentioned before that I couldn't get a travelcard one day so thought I'd be able to get one at Moorgate but not possible as the machines couldn't cope with that and no ticket office open at the weekend. I was also advised to go to Liverpool Street. I went back to Finsbury Park instead (ticket office there) and then travelled on from there.

Come on Dave, does anyone actually expect someone to go to another station to pick up a ticket ? Not only would most people not have the time but if you reached your destination without any opportunity to buy a ticket you'd just walk - the loser being the train operator.If I travel on the train and cannot buy a ticket I always take a picture on my phone of the ticket machine so I can prove I've made every reasonable effort to buy a ticket.

I've had a reply to the ticket office/ticket machine queries through the stakeholder system which I have copied below. I will write back about the Moorgate ticket machine conundrum and let you know when I get a response!

Quote

Hi James

I’d like to apologise to passengers that have been inconvenienced when trying to purchase tickets at Brookman’s Park station in recent weeks. Availability of staff at the station has been impacted by a member of staff moving elsewhere within the business, leaving a short term vacancy gap. We have been able to cover some shifts where possible with relief staff from other stations, while onsite the staff have maintained and kept the ticket machine filled with ticket stock and change.

We have recruited a permanent member of staff for Brookmans Park, who is currently training. They will be shadowing a permanent staff member on the route from 20th September and fully up to speed in 3-4 weeks. In the meantime we will monitor the ticket machine more closely to ensure that it is kept fully stocked and if any faults develop to be reported and resolved ASAP.

We are investing nearly £8m in 471 new ticket machines across our network. The new machines will ultimately be more helpful for users with improved on-screen information, larger ticket stocks, improved cash (change) mechanisms and the option to use contactless payment for example.

However, there have been several issues affecting the reliability of these machines and we understand the inconvenience caused to passengers as a result. Because of this, we took the decision to pause the roll-out to stations while an improvement plan was developed with the machines’ supplier - Scheidt & Bachmann.

We are working very closely with them on this plan which includes: developing an update to the software, a strengthened reporting process for problems that arise, and additional engineers to help manage any issues promptly. We want journeys to be seamless for our customers, including the ticket buying process, and this is a priority for us and our supplier.

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James Bentall, Brookmans Park, Herts.I post in a personal capacity and not on behalf of North Mymms Parish Council

Come on Dave, does anyone actually expect someone to go to another station to pick up a ticket ? Not only would most people not have the time but if you reached your destination without any opportunity to buy a ticket you'd just walk - the loser being the train operator.If I travel on the train and cannot buy a ticket I always take a picture on my phone of the ticket machine so I can prove I've made every reasonable effort to buy a ticket.

Accepted, but I buy and pay for tickets in advance. And I need the return ticket for coming home. So not being able to print them out at the destination (Moorgate in this instance) means I have the inconvenience on a short trip into London of finding a station with a connected ticket machine in order to collect my pre-paid for the journey home. If they install a ticket machine at MOG then that would solve the issue with that one destination.

And I know the answers from @GNRailUK are meant to be helpful, but it does feel like banging your head against a brick wall at times...

Apologies it was just a suggestion for the meantine. Is the ticket office at Moorgate open? ^Nat

I thought the response below to my complaint of 6th Sept might be of interest. Standard rubbish, in particular the bit about the station SOMETIMES being unmanned. Although I no longer travel every weekday, as far as I can see it's nearly always unmanned. Apologies come cheap, action doesn't!

Thank you for contacting us regarding Brookmans Parks station.

I am very sorry to hear of the issues relating to the ticket vending machine and I can fully appreciate that this must not be made any easier with the closure of the ticket office.

In recent months we undertook a project to replace some of the machines across our route to provide an improved customer experience. Unfortunately there have been some teething problems with their installation and we apologise for any frustration.

Where we receive any reports of faults we pass these to our retail and station teams who take the necessary remedial action to fix the issue as quickly as possible. We’re working closely with our suppliers to iron out any issues with the machines’ functionality and hope to be in a better position in the near future.

We appreciate you taking the time to let us know about your experience and I can assure you your concerns have been passed to the appropriate department.

In regards to the ticket office, we do our best to make sure the ticket offices are staffed throughout the scheduled hours of opening and that staff shift changes are as smooth as possible. However, sometimes a situation may arise when our offices will have to close earlier than usual, for example last minute staff sickness.

I have logged your comments and this will be reviewed by the relevant station manager.

Please be advised that if you are unable to purchase your ticket via both avenues, please board the service and locate a member of staff right away so this can be reported.

I hope this information clarifies matters and please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused.

I see he is going to refer your complaint to "the relevant station manager". I couldn't find who this is on the Great Northern website, although the page did say that "A summary of the topics discussed" at the last "Meet The Manager" session at King's Cross station on 14 September 2017 "can be found below:"

However, instead of a list of topics, there are links to 'Automatic Delay Repay compensation' and 'Passenger Watchdogs', which look like standard public relations copy rather than actual lists of topics discussed. (And the link offered in the 'Passenger Watchdogs' text is broken.)

-- So who is our station manager? -- Did anyone turn up to meet her or him at the last meeting? -- Were no issues discussed other than 'Automatic Delay Repay compensation' and 'Passenger Watchdogs'? -- Has the exercise any value?

And is anyone planning to attend the next "Meet The Manager" session at "St Pancras station on 12 October 2017 from 07:30-09:30am"?

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A few months ago they were installing lights on the bridge to the platforms but they weren't working the other evening at about 8.30.

The bridge along to the road is awful at the best of times and much worse in the dark. If I have ever come back on the train in the evening and there's no one around I would rather go through the barrier at the top and walk along the road.